At least 7 more people tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Thursday, taking the total number of virus cases in the state to 18.

At least 7 more people tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Thursday, taking the total number of virus cases in the state to 18. Earlier on Thursday morning, a 52-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district. The man had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in Purani Basti area of Katghora town, he said.

A 16-year-old boy from among these Islamic organisation members earlier tested positive for coronavirus on April 4, and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur, he said.

"The 52-year-old man had taken part in a namaaz (prayer) with these Tablighi Jamaat members in the mosque and lives in the same locality," he said. Korba Collector Kiran Kaushal said samples of 52 people who had come in contact with these Tablighi Jamaat members were collected for testing, of which one came out positive on Wednesday night.

The patient was shifted to AIIMS Raipur in the wee hours of Thursday, she said.

The Katghora town has been put under complete lockdown and its border has been sealed as a precautionary measure, she said.

Family members of the infected person along with other 234 families living in the area have been kept under quarantine, she added. With this, total three COVID-19 cases have been detected in Korba district so far.

So far, nine out of the total 18 patients in the state have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease, another official said.

A religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country.